When asked about his 2014 schedule that includes four 2013 bowl teams in the first five contests, including preseason No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 5 Auburn, Holtz said he wasn’t bothered.

“I sleep like a baby at night. I wake up every two hours crying,” he said to laughter. “We may be playing the hardest five-week schedule of anyone in the country. We play three games in 13 days, all on the road, all at night and all against bowl teams.”

Not long after Holtz, Tech athletic director Tommy McClelland and new baseball coach Greg Goff spoke at the luncheon, they headed over to Independence Stadium where the football team went through a one-hour practice session, then a meet-and-greet with fans.

Among the attendees were Patrick and Angenette Oliver from Napoleanville, who drove to Shreveport to watch son DeJuawn, practice in the stadium.

“This team has come a long way from where it was in the spring,” Patrick Oliver said. “We plan to make the trip up to Norman for the first game.”

Holtz said new defensive coordinator Manny Diaz is putting together a defense that brings pressure from a lot of angles, which has caused some problems for his offensive deployment.

“I told Manny they are coming from so many places he’s got to be making this up,” Holtz chuckled. “Usually, we’ll have 15 minutes of high pressure during practice to get accustomed to it. With his defense, we have to set 15 minutes of no blitzing.”

A number of players continue to impress the Tech coaching staff in fall drills, but few are shining more than former Evangel wide receiver Trent Taylor, who made a spectacular catch on Friday afternoon.

“Trent Taylor isn’t tall and he isn’t fast, but he has one of the biggest hearts on this football team,” Holtz said. “If everyone on this team played as hard as he does, we’d have a heckuva football team.”

Transfer quarterback Cody Sokol, who is battling returnee Ryan Higgins for the starting gig, was a standout in Friday’s practice, although he almost didn’t end up at Tech due to his abilities as a junior college record-setter.

“He broke all of (assistant coach) Tim Rattay’s JUCO passing records, so I don’t think Tim wanted us to recruit him, because he didn’t want him coming here and doing the same things,” Holtz said tongue-in-cheek.

Sokol, Higgins and Taylor Burch are expected to see action this fall, and Holtz said he would name a starter “when one of them emerges.”